JandC_Cruising

Yes....I just applied the 3rd to a booking we made on June 5th, which already had 2CN's applied. I made the payment online through my NCL account. No need to call NCL or agent if you can make payments yourself online. Simply selected the cert in my account. I just acted off of @CruisingwiththeSchmidts initial posting here and all worked fine. I didn't get any email or see anything either, So I'm guessing this is not fully announced yet, but the payment went through and now I've paid off $750 of a cruise with CN Certs! Great deal!

Thanks for the heads up! I just applied a 3rd to an 2025 reservation that we made two weeks ago! This is the 2nd time they've offered this deal this year. They had it for a week or so right around New Years and we took advantage of it then too!

@deladypilotWe did NCL Air from Chicago O'hare this past March and they flew us through BWI both ways via Southwest. We weren't happy to have connecting flights both ways, but at least we had not checked baggage fee.

Yes...You are correct. This is what will happen, since you already paid for your 3 excursions: After you purchase the "Free at Sea Plus", NCL will also issue a $50 credit to the original form of payment you used to pay for the Excursions. The "EXACT" example happened to us on our March cruise. We had paid for three excursions back in December, and then upgraded to "Free at Sea Plus" in January. One week later, my wife's CC received the credit because she had originally paid for the excursions. Just note, that you will get the $50 back, less any latitude discount you are due, if you are Silver or above... A 10% discount means you get $45 credit back)

The Encore is a far more 'modern" ship than the Epic. If you are looking for quiet spot's to read then I would certainly pick the Encore for the Waterfront on deck 8 for outdoor couches and chairs and the Observation lounge on deck 15 for indoor relaxation. Both are great and neither exist on the Epic. Both have Thermal Spas if that is of interest to you and you cannot go wrong with either of those. The Epic has a "different" bathroom design in the standard cabins....(lookup video's online to best understand the configuration) Many, including ourselves do not like it. But other's don't care either way. For "free dining" the Epic has Shanghai (Asian) which is not on the Encore, but other than that the other "free" dining locations are similar (main dining rooms, buffet, Osheehans/Local pub)

All NCL ships operate in US Dollars, regardless of cruise itinerary. Your shipboard account as well as prices on merchandise, menus, etc. are all transacted in US Dollars. The Casino tables take US dollars as well. The ship will typically exchange currency for US dollars if needed for that activity. Everything else is charged to the on board account and then settled in US dollars against the CC you put on file. Here is the information from NCL FAQ on Currency: Certainly, while in ports, you will want Euros to pay locals as necessary for anything you would pay cash for.

What you can change (or request) prior to 75 days out is the deviation of 1 or 2 days before and/or after the cruise. Once you are inside 75 days, you can no longer make or change your request.

It is 75 days prior to the cruise date.... You will likely not hear AT the 75day mark. (sometimes maybe, but in reality, they are giving you up to that moment to ask for deviations)...At 75 days prior to cruise is when the air department CAN start shopping for your flights since you are then "locked in". We've typically received our flight information anywhere between 45-55 days out, but there is a pretty wide range of experiences there.

If you use the Airfare promo through NCL, your ability to move/upgrade through the airline will depend upon that specific airline's policy, the ticket fare that NCL purchased for you, and your own personal status on that airline. So, if they book an airline on which you possess some level of status (ie; United Premier) then typically that airline will allow you to move seats and even upgrade you (again depending upon status). However, there are many airlines that NCL could book you on that will not allow any seat class changes. It really all depends. It is one of the "risk" factors we all take when using the air promo...NCL is providing a great fare typically, but often it is because they buy the "basic economy" ticket that on many airlines do not even give you seat assignments until 24hrs before the flight. (again, United Basic Economy, or any flight on Southwest which has no seat assignments at all - domestic of course).

If you are past final payment, but still more than 75 days out, you are allowed to change your BOGO selection up to 75 days (ie: you can deviate or even cancel the air promo) As such, outside of 75 days, you can most certainly call and upgrade your cabin for the higher fare. You will however, be subject to all the new programs/promotions, that includes the new BOGO air rate. Once inside 75 days, you cannot alter your airfare selection, per the Terms and conditions. In fact, at that point they often do not offer BOGO air on new bookings. I do not know if that inhibits your ability to do a cabin change at that point by calling up and asking for a more expensive cabin. The best way of finding out what your cost for changing would be is to simply call NCL and ask. I can confirm that if you win and upgrade, it will not happen until long after you have received your air confirmation. Upgrade bidding has zero effect on your air. We have had this happen with a winning bid in the past. Air is unaffected at that point.

Your choices for balconies on that sailing are as follows: 1849pp Sail-away Balcony - no choice of cabin and no "FAS" perk 1899pp Guarantee Balcony - no choice of cabin but you get FAS perks $2259pp Family Balcony (or other) - You can choose from over 100 open balcony cabins (some have an adder of either $40 or $90pp) . So in short, you CAN pick your cabin, but cannot do so for the least expensive fare.

We like the burgers at O'sheehans/Local. It's our go-to lunch on embarkation day when staying in standard cabin. We didn't notice anything different in March. The burger in the Haven has always been good too, but i've got to remember next time I get the chance to order it without the brie...it's just too rich for me.. Went to American Diner for lunch in March on the Joy one day and frankly didn't see the value vs. the free burgers at the Local...

NCL cruise Embarkation in San Jaun is from Pan Am port....As mentioned, the cab ride from Old Town is not too bad, but there are several hotels near the port. I try to stay at Marriott properties so stayed at the Sheraton Resort and Casino inwhen we sailed the Epic in March 2022 . Easy 5 min to the pier.

I think it is actually three sizes: 1/2 oz, 1 oz., or 2 oz. attached was some old pricing from 2022.... If $400 is now 2 oz price, expect $200 for 1oz.? $144 with the Plus package ($200, Less 40%=$120 ...plus 20% gratuity= $144 )

We did this on the Joy in March. We actually planned on using two credits, but as fate would have it, we only at four dishes. The service was slow and by the time we would have considered additional plates, we needed to leave for a show. As such, we simply cashed out and used only one dining credit. The next evening we went to Q smokehouse and did the same thing. From past experiences at Q, we knew one dining package was more than enough food for the two of us. We only used one dinning credit and shared the food we ordered. If this has been changed, that will be a frustrating experience and frankly cause us to call the manager to complain on the spot...There is no reason to MAKE people use that package at food republic...It's not the same as taking a seat at Teppanyaki (which I recall caused a big CC todo several months ago)

You can find the Vibe to book online pre-cruise....If you are on the Joy in July, it could easily be sold out already. Look in "Explore and Plan in the "Entertainment" section of your booking...you should see the offer...

That is correct, it is an "Experience" and not covered. However, you do receive either a 20% or 40% discount based upon which package you have (regular or plus). The same is true for the "Macallan Tasting Experience". However, unlike the Louis XIII, each of the Macallan scotches in the tasting individually covered, so you can do your own "tasting", you just don't get the chocolates and the tutorial.

Put us in the camp of CHEERING for the idea of closing down Galaxy Pavilion and building out a Thermal Suite. The lack of a Thermal Suite is the one shortcoming of the Joy. I would think that the revenue generated through that feature would be greater than that of the Galaxy Pavilion, but obviously that's just a guess. I would expect they re-classify a bunch of cabins to be "Spa Cabins" without any modifications to those cabins. The flip side is that the cost of operation of the Thermal Suite is likely greater than that of GP..

The current "program" for Premium Plus is that you can get any of the bottles at dinner that are already offered by the glass. This does allow you to get wines above $15/glass, but aside from not having to wait on staff to bring you another glass, that is now the Free bottle of wines at dinner benefit. If you purchase any bottles you will get 40% discount, which is pretty good. If you do not finish that bottle, they will tag it for you and you can finish the next evening. Just notify your restaurant before you get there and they will have the bottle ready for you. Not a problem at all!

If you budget allows, deviate as much as possible. There will be no lack of things to do in Rome! Keep in mind that most any flight from North America to Europe will leave at night and arrive the following morning. I've seen conflicting reports as to how NCL books North America to European deviation request...Is it based on when you leave home or when you arrive at your destination? We've done NCL Bogo Flights before and deviated, but never to Europe. If you ask to deviate 2 days and it's a Sunday Departure: Will they book you on a flight Thursday (3 days before cruise), arriving in Rome on Friday (2 days before cruise) Or Will they book you an a flight Friday (2 days before cruise), arriving in Rome on Saturday morning (1 day before cruise)

This March on the Joy, there was a healthy selection at Maltings! I took the attached picture...may be hard to see all the choices since I'm still using an Iphone 8 😜 Additionally, if you enjoy Old Fashions, they had a number of homemade bitters (Coffee, banana, chocolate, etc.). We went most evenings for pre-dinner cocktails and let them craft us something special each night.

While it cannot be known to all of us how many complained, YOU deserve tremendous kudos for posting the issue on CC and bringing the issue to everyone's attention. While it sounds as if several "issues" are getting compensated here, there is no doubt that by putting the rationale in this letter, they acknowledge utilizing the OL in the way they had planned was inappropriate. I hope you enjoy the balance of the cruise!

"Sinner Shows"? I bet that one fills up quickly 😆

It looks like the OL on the Prima is significantly smaller than those on the BA+ ships. I just took a look at the deck plan and also a youtube video and it must be 1/2 the size. The Port and Starboard sides are definitely shorter and the front only has a fraction of the space of the Joy and Encore. Still, depending upon the itinerary, a full cruise shutdown of that space will certainly create upset passengers. We're booked for the Prima summer '25 for Norway/Iceland (what the OP is currently on) and losing that space would likely make us upset too!

The best deal happens Mid cruise. $29 for a “full bag”…as much as you can stuff in there. It’s a cheap paper bag, but we are always able to fit 3 days worth of shorts, Shirts, underwear etc. without any problems. On a Sunday to Sunday cruise it will be offered on Wednesday. Leave it for your steward in the morning and you get it back by Thursday afternoon. We take advantage every cruise! I just don’t send them my Tommy Bahamas. 😁